2009 French Open Week 1: It's Black Sunday!

It was a Black Sunday at Roland Garros!

First, defending women's champion Ana Ivanovic went down 6-2, 6-3 to Victoria Azarenka in the fourth round.

Not long after that, it was four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal turn, who was stunned 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(2) by Robin Soderling.

Labelled as one of the major upsets in French Open history, this is Nadal's first loss ever at the French Open, and his first ever loss in a best-of-five match on clay.

I guess the only person who saw this coming is Elena Dementieva, who predicted the loss earlier.

Now the French Open will have a new men's champion this year.

The pressure is on Roger Federer... or perhaps he should breathe sigh of relief now that his two main competitors on this surface are gone.

Yesterday, Novak Djokovic, a semifinalist in the last two years, bowed out in the third round after losing to no. 29 Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

Now I need to root for someone in order to keep my interest in this year's Grand Slam.

I hope Federer or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will win.

At least Federer will get his 14th Grand Slam or Tsonga will be the first Frenchman to win at Roland Garros since Yannick Noah since 1983.

For the women's singles, I think Dinara Safina has shown enough so far that she dominates the other ladies.

Unless Maria Sharapova managed to pull off miraculous wins to the final, I'm not so keen on the women's tennis as much as I like men's tennis.

Now I need to take some time off to mourn Nadal's defeat. See you guys tomorrow.

(Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Rafael Nadal & Xisca in Paris

Thanks to an anonymous reader for the latest photos of Rafael Nadal and Xisca in Paris.

Need I say more?


(Images via laineygossip.com, blogswow.com)

The Serbian players have a VIP fan

Serbia's President Boris Tadic showed up at Roland Garros to meet and support his Serbian tennis players.

Jelena Jankovic certainly knows how to stand out in front of the camera.

The other guys who stood behind President Boris were Novak Djokovic, Nenad Zimonjic and Victor Troicki.

Look at Djokovic's face. He seems like a big fan of Mr. President.

(Image by Tom Gandolfini/AFP/Getty Images)

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will wear anything but G-string if he wins Roland Garros

Can you spot the tie?

To celebrate his first match win at the French Open, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came to his press conference wearing a tie.

"This is my first victory here. I celebrate this victory like this," he said, adding, "I told myself that in other sports when you come to a press conference, there is a dress code."

"For tennis, it's good also to show we have a certain ethic. I believe it's important. We have beautiful tournaments, and we should show respect."

Tsonga said that if he won the tournament, "No problem, I'll wear whatever you want -- but not a G-string."

I'm pretty sure there will be alternative to G-string.

(Via tennis.com)

2009 French Open Day 3: Slightly boring...

It was boring, rain-interrupted day at Roland Garros. Seriously.

I went to bed early and didn't bother to blog about until the next day.

Perhaps I didn't get enough sleep for the past couple of days.

So, Serena Williams needed 9 match points to win her first round match at the French Open? No kidding.

Serena who called her performance “horrendous" finally overcame 100th-ranked Klara Zakopalova 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4.

Jelena Jankovic had an easy win, defeating Petra Cetkovska 6-2, 6-3.

Nice nails to match your lovely dress, Jelena!

One of my favourite, Svetlana Kuznetsova also had an easy win. She beat Claire Feuerstein 6-1, 6-4.

Gael Monfils had seriously debated not playing at Roland Garros at all this year because of the chronic tendinitis in his left knee.

It had been also more than a month since he had played a match on tour.

However, in his first round match yesterday, Monfils showed he was not rusty on court as he rolled past Bobby Reynolds 6-2, 6-3, 6-1, in just 1 hour and 28 minutes.

Monfils fellow countryman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also picked up win against Julien Benneteau 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an all-French affair.

Fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro had little trouble in his first match at Roland Garros, beating another Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.

According to James Blake, being an American his main goal of the year are Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

And because of that he was eliminated 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-2 by Leonardo Mayer, a qualifier from Argentina.

Leonardo who was making his Grand Slam debut is currently ranked 93rd in the world.

Another American, Mardy Fish also failed to move to the second round.

He was defeated by Maximo Gonzalez 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4).

For more results, please click here.

(Images via Yahoo! Sport)

2009 French Open Day 2: What else but Pink?

Rafael Nadal beat Marcos Daniel 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 for his 29th straight win on the red clay at Roland Garros, breaking the French Open men’s record for consecutive wins.

The win surpassed the mark held by Bjorn Borg, who won 28 straight from 1978-81.

Nadal also equaled the overall tournament record, matching the 29 straight that Chris Evert won between 1974-75 and 1979-81.

Opening his first match at the tournament with a striking fashion statement, people however are more interested to talk about his pink Nike gear rather than his record wins.

Now seriously, if only Maria Sharapova wear the same colour as Nadal, then it would be great.

Instead Sharapova's opponent Anastasiya Yakimova was the one in pink.

Although Sharapova had a shaky start, she eventually won 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Earlier of the day, poor Anne Keothavong was bageled twice by the world no.1. Dinara Safina.

Venus Williams also advanced into the second round after defeated Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.

Asia enjoyed a successful day at the expense of French hopes.

World no.15 and Asian hope, Zheng Jie of China had an easy win over Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-1, 6-3.

Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn also made it through when she overcame Camille Pin 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.

Another Frenchwoman who was sent packing was Stephanie Foretz.

She lost to Kirsten Flipkens 1-6, 6-4, 4-6. I guess those cool looking shades didn't help.

Roger Federer cruises into the second round after beating Spaniard Alberto Martin 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.

Here's an interesting read on CNN. It's fresh from the oven.

I bet Federer can't wait to meet Nadal to prove how 'human' his rival is on clay.

Let's wrap up the day with a shirtless Nikolay Davydenko.

Davydenko admitted that he was not in the best shape.

But still he won his first round match 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 against Stefan Koubek.

Since we already have shirtless photo, let's add another one: Nadal's sexy shoulder.

For more results, you go check it out here.

I'm off to bed now.

(Images via Yahoo! Sports)

Yes, it's PINK!

Go watch the match between Rafael Nadal and Marcos Daniel now.

(Image by Jacques Demarthon/AFP/Getty Images)

More Roland Garros practice photos

It's less than 1 day before the 2009 French Open starts.

Here are more photos of the players practicing and adjusting to the red clay at Roland Garros.

Maria Sharapova heading to the court for some practice.

Novak Djokovic taps his happy feet.

Andy Murray

James Blake

Dinara Safina

Juan Monaco

Rafael Nadal

Andy Roddick

Fernando Verdasco

(Images via Yahoo! Sports, zimbio.com)

2009 French Open draw

I'm happy that Novak Djokovic is on Roger Federer's half.

Tough road ahead for Rafael Nadal but I'm happy with the draw.

I'm not going to say much.

Click here for the complete men's draw and the women's draw.

(Images via Yahoo! Sports, French Open website)

Somdev Devvarman in French Open qualifying finals

Somdev Devvarman survived another three-setter to move into the final round of the French Open qualifiers after defeating Alex Bogdanovic 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-4.

The world no. 138 is just one match away from making it to the main draw of the clay court Slam.

Standing in his way now is third seed Marcos Daniel, who beat Ivan Dodig on 7-5 6-4.

“I played well in patches, but hopefully I can raise my level of play in tomorrow’s match."

"Today I stayed tough right through and that’s what helped me,” Devvarman said.

Updates: Somdev couldn't materialise his dream of playing in the main draw of the French Open after suffering a straight sets defeat at the hands of Brazilian Marcos Daniel in the final round of qualifiers today.

Somdev lost 0-6, 1-6 in the one-sided affair that lasted just 58 minutes.

(Image via French Open official website)

2009 Roland Garros - French Open Preview

It's the time of the year again for the (some say) most challenging grand slam, the French Open.

Here's a preview of the tournament.



This year's tournament will run from May 24th to June 7th, which means there are only 3 days left before the players are tested on the dusty, challenging red clay courts of Roland Garros.

So, are you ready for some brutally brilliant tennis?

I bet Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic fans are ready.

Gael Monfils doubtful for French Open after knee injury

Reuters reported that Gael Monfils was on the verge of withdrawing from the French Open on Wednesday because of a knee injury.

In an interview after the exhibition match in Rueil where he lost 6-4, 6-0 to Marcos Baghdatis, Monfils said, "If I had to decide today, the answer would be no," the world number 11, who reached the semi-finals at Roland-Garros last year.

"I clench my teeth but my knee is still hurting. I'll make my decision at the last minute. I have six days left as I have asked to play on Tuesday. I still believe a miracle will happen," he added.

According to French federation doctor Bernard Montalvan, the 22-year-old Monfils suffers from an inflammation of the kneecap which could require surgery and a long period of rehabilitation.

Updates: Monfils was at the Disneyland Paris together with Stanislas Wawrinka for a promotional event.

Go read it at Black Tennis Pro's blog.


(Via guardian.co.uk; Image via menstennisforums.com, blacktennispros.com)

Players hit the practice court prior to French Open

Here are some photos of some of the star players at the practice court.

Sorry but there's no shirtless photos... This is not the Australian Open.

Roger Federer

Sebastien Grosjean did some shopping at the Roland Garros souvenir shop.

Paul-Henri Mathieu

Marcos Baghdatis

Gaston Gaudio

Amelie Mauresmo

Venus Williams

Serena Williams with daddy Richard who just got married recently.

Jelena Jankovic

(Images via French Open official website)